Hearthstone Beta Season 3 Ends Friday, Alternate Card Backs Revealed

Test Season 3 of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will end on Friday, producer Yong Woo revealed today. Meanwhile, Blizzard has given players a glimpse at the rewards they can earn through ranked play someday.

@mwright112 Seasons end at the end of the month. So you have 2 days left!

The first test season ran from December 10th to January 9th. Test Season 2 wrapped up on January 31st. Woo's tweet suggests that each season will be one month long moving forward. That should make it a lot easier for gamers to keep track how many days they have left to improve their rank.

While ranked play provides no tangible rewards, that will change soon. Blizzard plans to give special card backs to players who participate in each season. Today the developer revealed a few of these alternate card backs through the official Hearthstone Facebook page. You can see them in the gallery below.

"Decorate the backs of your hard-earned cards, each with unique art and a different way to acquire them. You and your opponent can see your card backs in-game as you duel! Collect them all!"

Card backs aren't just participation trophies, though. Of the five backs revealed today, only the red and gold one is awarded for simply playing ranked matches. The back with the stone border and amber logo is only given to players who attain Legendary rank. The wooden border back is earned through "special events." Details on the rainbow and green card backs will be announced soon.

Blizzard said in the past that they'll offer different card backs each season. A consistent Hearthstone player amass a large selection of them over time, then.

Players will be able to earn golden hero cards in time as well. These cards are attained after playing 500 ranked matches with a certain class. In addition to a unique appearance, these gold cards are said to have unique animations.

Hearthstone is currently in open beta on the PC and Mac. The official launch is planned later in the year along with an iOS release.